Reproduction Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy that is associated with anovulatory infertility, menstrual disturbances as well as an adverse metabolic profile. Hyperandrogenism is the hallmark of PCOS and originates predominantly from ovarian theca cells. Obesity increases androgen synthesis, partly due to accompanying hyperinsulinemia but also as a result of an effect of adipokines on ovarian steroidogenesis (Comim et al. PLoS ONE 8</str...

Introduction: Pregnancy and lactation result in increasing maternal appetite and adiposity, which in humans may lead to long-term weight retention. Previous studies in this area are limited, but some suggest that the appetite-inhibiting (anorexigenic) gut hormone peptide-YY (PYY) is increased in lactation, despite hyperphagia. This work characterised changes in orexigenic (appetite-stimulating) ghrelin and anorexigenic PYY and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) and gut architectur...

A significant proportion of IVF treatments are unsuccessful due to defects in implantation. The first stage of implantation is an attachment interaction between the trophectoderm (TE) of the blastocyst-stage embryo and the uterine luminal epithelium (LE). Endocrine signalling from the corpus luteum and paracrine signalling from uterine glands, uterine stroma and the embryo promotes LE receptivity. To investigate the LE–TE interaction we have developed an in vitro...